Chapter 14

Companions and Rivals

Too startled to even scream, Ayden stared at the man pinning her to the ground. He had messy red hair, bright green eyes, a small pointed nose, and beneath the snarl on his face, she also saw a small surprised expression and a sly grin.

"So has the wretched king finally decided that he tried enough to catch me and now it was someone else's turn? That was pretty tricky of him to send a woman, but even the great fae king cannot out trick a kitsune! You'd have to get up pretty early to try and do that!"

"F…fae king? Kitsune? What on earth are you…how did you…what are you?"

"Really? Your feeble attempts at confusion are no match for me!" the man raised the knife higher over his head. "Although…you don't seem to be a fae…what are you?" he gently got off Ayden and offered her a hand, but she stayed on the ground where she was.

"That's exactly what I am trying to ask you!" she shouted. "I held a fox tail in my hand and the next moment, you are sitting on top of me holding my very own knife!"

"Wait…so you are a mortal? But then…why do you have an immortal aura?"

"What are you going on about? Yes I am a mortal! What else is there?"

The man squatted down in front of Ayden and looked at her curiously.

"Is this the fox tail you held earlier?" he asked as he turned around and placed a tail in her hand. Taking hold of it, Ayden tried to pull it closer but only succeeded in pulling the man back into her.

"Ahhh! Get off me! What kind of trick are you trying to play?" she yelled.

"Well…you did pull my tail, sorry if that throws me a little off balance."

"Your…your tail…?" Ayden began to turn pale. "That's not possible."

Dusting himself off, the man with the tail stood up.

"Of course it's possible. Did you think this whole world belonged only to you? Silly girl. There are many other creatures besides humans and mute beasts that roam the earth. I, as I mentioned earlier, am a kitsune. I am like a fox, yet also like a human. But I have many other traits besides that." Suddenly, Ayden found herself staring face to face with herself. Screaming, she leapt backwards and fell into the icy, rushing waters. She forced her head to stay underwater, thinking to herself that this had to be a dream. What she just saw could not be real.

Without warning, a strong hand broke the barrier of the water above her and grabbed her around her wrist.

"What do you think you are doing?" Her double was gone and in its place was the man from before. "Come here." He pulled Ayden close to himself. "Calm down." She fought weakly but relented soon and leaned into the fox mans embrace, exhausted.

"You have blood streaked all over you. Your eyes are an unnatural golden color. You claim to not know of the immortal kind yet you give off the unmistakable aura of a certain breed…I cannot place this particular aura, it has been many years since I have seen one like it…you are in the fae kings hunting ground yet you are not one of them. Please sweet lady, tell me what is wrong."

"Who is the fae king?" Ayden asked, her face buried in his fiery orange sleeve.

"King Rupert. Who else?"

"Rupert…is a…what's a fae?"

"A fae is a manlier term for faerie in my opinion. They have wings, they glitter, they can disguise themselves so they can hide in the human world, and they have magical powers. There are four different categories of faeries: earth, water, wind, and fire. Fire is what our dear King Rupert can wield. Normally, faes or faeries are quite nice, hospitable creatures. But Rupert and his clan are the most hostile group out there. Now, don't let him put a bad taste in your mouth for fire faeries, they are usually the most gentle. But power has gotten to his head and now he thinks he can rule the world."

"So why are you here if you dislike him so much?"

"He has gathered many legendary creatures to his hunting ground for his own sport. He has no love or respect for our lives. We would escape, but he has placed this thing around our wrists preventing us from ever crossing the boundaries. All of us have tried to take it off, but none of us were able to. We are all here until we die of old age, sickness, or his arrow."

"That's horrible! How many of you are there?" Ayden gasped and looked closer at her surroundings, trying to spot anything unusual.

"There used to be hundreds of creatures here…werewolves, vampires, griffins, harpies, unicorns, centaurs, minotaurs, sphinx, the phoenix used to soar through the sky and mermaids used to swim in the waters. But Rupert has killed every single one of us. I am the only one left." The fox man turned his head and Ayden saw a look she could relate with all too well. It was a look of loneliness, betrayal, anger, and sadness. The look only lasted for a small moment before his sly grin returned, but Ayden could tell that his heart was heavy with loss and hurt.

"Well…you said you are a kit…something or other…what can you do? I do not think I have ever heard of you, even in faerie tales." She looked up into the beautiful mans face and noticed for the first time that he had fox ears on the top of his head.

"Kitsune," his grin grew larger as he laughed at her butchering of his name. "The reason you haven't heard of us is because we can stay hidden in the human world. As you saw before I can be both fox and I can imitate any shape I chose – I imitated you earlier – this allows us to walk about without our ears and tails being noticed, but this is my true human form. We are extremely strong and fast and can make ourselves invisible. In fox form we can also fly, and shoot fire and lightening from our mouths."

"Wow, that is so incredible!"

"Why thank you!" he beamed.

"Earlier, you said you sensed an aura around me…I am not sure what you were talking about…but maybe you can help me."

"Anything for you, my lady." He rose to his feet with her in his arms and then gently stood her up on the forest floor. Turning her around to face him, he placed his arms on her shoulders and looked her deep in the eyes. "What is troubling you?"

Blushing at his closeness, Ayden explained her predicament with Emmett.

"I have a friend back in a thicket of trees who…well…I am not sure really what happened…you see, I was captured by Rupert and my friend came to rescued me. Apparently I died and…well…he did something to bring me back, but it changed him…I mean…he no longer looks the same…he was unconscious when I left to come find food and water."

"Ah, and that is when you perceived me to be your food, am I right?"

"I…uh…well…" Ayden stuttered. The fox laughed.

"Don't worry about it. It was an honest mistake. Come, lead me to your friend."

…

"My king." Damian was kneeling before King Rupert in the war room as before.

"Damian. I am not in a pleasant mood. If you value your life, make this quick."

Gulping, Damian nodded and stood.

"My king. I feel a powerful presence. It burst forth like a lightening bolt only moments ago. Is it he, your highness?"

"Yes, yes it is."

"Then why not go after him? Was this not your plan? Surely the girl is dead by now, only that much grief at one time could bring this upon him."

"Plans change. You of all people should know that." The king sneered at him. Hatred burned in Damian's heart and a fire in his eyes, but he only nodded and left the room without another word.

Turning back to his mahogany table, Rupert sighed. "There was one thing you did not pick up on, fool. Along with the boy's power bursting forth, another power came with it. One I have not felt in a long time." Looking down, he picked up a sheet of parchment with a single name written on it. "A very long time."

…

Ayden led the kitsune back to where Emmett was still laying unconscious. Upon hearing footsteps approach, Daniel ran out of the thicket to greet Ayden but came to a quick halt when he saw she wasn't alone.

"Ayden! What? Who? What?" He asked, not being able to form actual sentences. He found the strange mans appearance startling. He had heard of fox men, but did not realize they actually existed.

"Daniel, don't worry. He is a friend, held captive here as well. He is a kitsune, and he is here to help us with Emmett." Ayden then proceeded to tell the old man everything that had happened when she left, and as she finished the tale, the kitsune bowed low to Daniel.

"I am honored to meet you, sir. Even though I have only known this fair lady for but a short while, I want to thank you for keeping her safe and taking care of her. She is truly a light in this dark world." Ayden blushed as Daniel nodded in return.

"Aye, do not be thanking me lad, but the one inside the trees here. He is the one that has truly kept her safe."

"Then I shall do just that." With that, he waltzed into the thicket with the other two trailing, mystified, behind him. As soon as he came into view of Emmett, though, he stopped short.

"He is another fae! But he also has a mix of the same strange aura that you have, my lady. I do not know for sure what it is."

"A fae? Like the king?"

"Yes and no, sweet girl. The king has a fiery red glow about him and this man has a golden glow, akin to that which is in your eyes. It is quite beautiful."

"But…he was human before, how could he suddenly become a fae?" Ayden asked.

"Hmmm…well…there are a few differences between him and a fae, now that I look closer. His does not have symbols all over his body; the one on his face seems to be the only one. He also has pointed ears…like that of an…elf! That's it! Your aura, Miss Ayden, it is that of an elf!" he ran to grab her hands. "I see it now! He must have elf and fae in his blood. Only an elf can suppress any kind of power in another and hide it in human form, and it would take a great deal of emotional turmoil to bring it out. One of his relatives must have hidden this side from him since he was a young boy."

"But how do I have elf in me? Why are my eyes suddenly golden?"

"When this man transformed, what happened?" The kitsune turned to Daniel as he asked this question.

"Well, he was holding Ayden in his arms, told her to live – because she had just died, we were both sure of it – then a glow surrounded both of them, his wings began to grow, I heard both their heart beats, then the glow began to leave, he dropped to his knees, and she woke up."

"Just as I thought. He transferred his elven healing powers to you, my lady. You may now have traits similar to that of an elf. You will probably be swifter and stronger, your tracking skills should increase ten fold, and you will be able to hide better as well."

"Really? Interesting…" Ayden stood silent, deep in thought.

"No offense…but we really should be trying to figure a way out of here. You wouldn't happen to know the way out, would you?" Daniel asked the fox man. Ayden looked at him in time to see extreme sadness and abandonment cross his face, but he quickly hid it as he nodded and pointed to his left.

"I do, it is this way. If you let me, I can transform into my fox self and carry you three to the border." Daniel began to nod, but Ayden shook her head.

"We can't just leave you here!"

"Sweet Ayden, do not worry yourself about me. I will be fine here, as I have been for decades."

"No, I won't accept that! Come here, let me look at that device that keeps you here." He shook his head and sighed, but stretched his arm out to her all the same.

"I told you, it is impossible to take off…only the…" Ayden held the bracelet in his face.

"Nothing is impossible." She grinned and pulled him in for a hug. The kitsune was stunned as he rubbed his newly freed wrist and held the girl hugging him.

…

Emmett heard jumbled voices in the background but couldn't make out what they were saying or whom they belonged to. He could only distinguish one woman and to men. Slowly, he began to recognize Ayden and Daniels voices but the third remained a mystery. He had no idea what they were talking about…something about foxes, borders, and bracelets. Gradually, he opened his eyes and turned to face the voices only to witness Ayden pulling a strange man into a tight hug.

"What is this?" He yelled as he jumped up. His feet never came back to the ground, something was holding him in the air and his vision started to turn red.

"Emmett!" Ayden called out to him, but her voice trembled with fright. Was he truly that scary? Or was she just ashamed he caught her hugging another man. She began to back away with a frightened look on her face.

"What happened to him?" she turned to ask the man standing next to her. On close inspection, Emmett noticed he had a fox tail and a pair of ears on top of his head.

"What are you and why are you here?" Emmett yelled and the strange man.

"I believe his fae nature may have an angry side…he's glowing red now…I wonder…"

"Emmett!" Ayden called out again, but this time, she did not back away in fear, instead she walked toward him. "Emmett, come down. Come here and let us explain."

"Who is he and why is he here?" he shouted.

"He is a kitsune, he is here to help us. Come here Emmett…" Ayden reached her up and grabbed his hand.

Without warning, Emmett suddenly changed back to his original form and fell from the air, flattening Ayden to the ground. The kitsune came and rolled Emmett gently off of Ayden and helped her to her feet.

"Come on, let's get him out of here before he wakes up again. It will be easier than trying to explain everything to him here. We need to move. Here, put him on my back, then you two hop on, ok?" Ayden and Daniel nodded in agreement as he turned into a large fox. They did as he said and he took of running fast through the forest.